Elijah Challenge Asia seeks to provide ministry support, training seminars, teaching events, healing and prayer opportunities for the churches in Malaysia and Asia. It has the goal of training and raising Elijah Challengers who would become leaders in the ministries of healing the sick for the extension of God’s kingdom.

Monday, December 31, 2012

At Elijah Challenge, we have frequently been asked whether do all people get healed after we have ministered. The answer is 'no'. Even though high percentage got healed, but there are some who are not healed. We do not know the reason but we continue to minister healing.

Sadly, some use these negative results as a reason to disbelieve in divine healing or avoid ministering healing.

Now, take this comparison between healing the infirm and sharing the Gospel - do all people get saved when we share the Gospel? If not, then why are we still sharing the Gospel?

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Little nine-year-old Jaedyn, the granddaughter of Baptist Pastor Rickie Bradshaw in Houston, heard these words spoken audibly to her by the Lord Jesus. She had been born with an incurable heart disease in which her heart did not contract or beat normally. When listened to through a stethoscope, it would sound like the galloping of a horse and raise her blood pressure abnormally high. She had little energy at school, and often her grandparents would have pick her up and drive her home from school because she was too tired to walk.

On Sunday afternoon, December 2, 2012 Pastor Rickie hosted a Tent Meeting in Houston's Fifth Ward. He brought Jaedyn to receive her healing from the Lord. Then we led the disciples in laying hands on her heart, commanding it to be healed in the name of Jesus. Then we told her to run to a fence which was forty or fifty yards in the distance behind us. At first Jaedyn hesitated, remembering what her doctor had told her. But a brother took her by the hand and encouraged her to start running. The two of them took off at a quick jog, reaching the fence in several seconds. They turned around and ran all the way back to us. We could see that Jaedyn was not out of breath, exhausted, or in any distress. In front of the people we asked her how she felt, and she said she felt fine. Jaedyn spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying the event, feeling absolutely fine.

On the Saturday following Jaedyn's appointment with her doctors, he wrote us again: Pastor Rickie wrote: "I have great news. Jaedyn went to visit the transplant team of physicians at Texas Children's Hospital on Thursday. They checked her heart for any sign of health problems. After two physicians looked for what they called the galloping sound of her heartbeat, which is common with this disease, they checked multiple times and they could not find the galloping sound. They were amazed and very surprised. The galloping sound in her heart is always supposed to be present until she has a new heart. Her blood pleasure was a surprise as well. They were expecting a three-digit read up and down but her pressure was normal. They are going to do an ultra sound to see what may be going on before we can declare a miracle. Of course we have no doubts that she has healed.

..Since that day she has been as healthy as she has ever been. Prior to this, Jaedyn would become very tired after walking to class at school. Many times we would have to pick her up from school because she would be too exhausted. She went to school this week with no problems. This is amazing.

Two Wednesdays ago [before her miraculous healing], Jaedyn had an encounter with the Lord during Bible Study. He called her name audibly three times. She asked Him who was speaking to her. He told her that He was Jesus. He told her that He was going to heal her heart and He wanted to use her to speak on His behalf. She preached to the church for 90 minutes nonstop. Her message was about His church having a sick heart. She said that the church has fake worship. The Lord told her to tell us that His church worshipped Him to get a blessing from Him instead of worshipping Him because He is the blessing. He even told her to worship Him not because she needs a new heart but because He is her heart and when He heals her heart He will heal His Church's heart. She shared with us at the Bible Study that her heart was a symbol of the condition of His church's heart. She spoke to us as He had spoken to her. It was truly an amazing experience."

A few days later on December 20, Pastor Rickie wrote us again about Jaedyn: "Today was a great day for her at school. One of the administrators at school commented that it's becoming difficult to keep up with Jaedyn. She is so energetic."

Thursday, November 15, 2012

In the city of Londrina, Brazil, a 75-year-old attorney suffered from a brain aneurysm and had lapsed into an irreversible coma. He was in a vegetative, brain-dead state from which according to doctors there was absolutely no hope of recovery.

Two trained believers from the First Independent Presbyterian Church of Londrina, an Elder named Dr. Oziel who himself was a practicing physician and his Senior Pastor Rodolfo Montosa, ministered to him several times over the course of some months. The attorney miraculously woke up from his vegetative state with full cognitive functions. He is now physically active and back at work at his law practice.

Since all this took place, the Elder and his Pastor had not yet had an opportunity to share with him the gospel of Jesus Christ. One day in early November 2012 they took me to visit him and his wife at his home. His wife met us at the door and showed us into a vast study/living room where he was seated awaiting us.

Soon after catching sight of Dr. Oziel who had been used to bring him back from the practically dead, he began to weep tears of gratefulness. Several times during our brief visit, his tears would suddenly begin to flow. Dr. Oziel shared with him the gospel of the One whose power and name had brought him back so miraculously---the Lord Jesus Christ. With no reluctance or questions at all, he quietly accepted Jesus as His new Lord and Savior, and received from Him the forgiveness of sins and life everlasting.

Never have I seen such fruit ripe for the picking. Or, as Brother Rodolfo remarked to me as we drove away after our visit, the fruit was already on the ground ready to be picked up.

Mark 2:10-12 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." So he said to the man, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all.

Thursday, September 20, 2012

By Rev William LauProponents of what is called “spiritual warfare” in the heavenlies may be aware that it is not clearly supported by Scripture. Nowhere in Scripture is found any instance where a disciple directly rebukes and attempts to drive out principalities or “territorial spirits” from geographical areas. (We are not referring to intercession or prayer to God here, but offensive action directed specifically against powerful demonic beings in the heavenlies.)

The prophet Daniel was not performing such warfare in Daniel 10 when the archangel Michael engaged the prince of Persia in the heavenlies over him. Rather he was praying and fasting when God sent Michael to help the angel who had been sent to Daniel but had been detained by the prince of Persia. It is not recorded that Daniel was in any way aware of the warfare taking place in the heavenlies until the angel was released and appeared before him. Clearly Daniel was not involved in the struggle.

Neither Jesus nor any of his disciples engaged in such a practice as recorded in the New Testament. If "spiritual warfare" is such an important and necessary factor in evangelism, why does New Testament Scripture not record a single clear incidence of it? If the early disciples did not need to conduct such "warfare" and were nevertheless very fruitful preaching the gospel in their time, what makes us think that we need to do it today? It is clear that if we are not fruitful today in evangelism, it is not because we are lacking the dimension of "spiritual warfare." We must be lacking some other dimension---a dimension which must be clearly evident and staring at us from the pages of New Testament Scripture.

Later in this article we shall discover what that missing dimension is.

The Scriptures often cited from Ephesians 6:10-18 by spiritual warfare proponents actually refer to a defensive posture in which the believer puts on the full armor of God in order to take his stand against the devil’s schemes and against the rulers and authorities. “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” These verses cannot be used to support the practice of believers directly rebuking rulers and authorities in an offensive way.

Finally, nowhere does Scripture explicitly command disciples to drive out territorial spirits in the name of Jesus. But since the practice is not expressly forbidden in Scripture, its proponents support its active use. Part of the reason the practice is justified by them is because of apparent results achieved in evangelism where the practice has been applied. There are some reports of areas where people had been closed to the gospel. But after spiritual warfare was performed with regional territorial spirits rebuked, people in the area were suddenly open to the gospel and accepted Jesus Christ in response to the gospel.

All this would appear well and good, especially when the salvation of souls and the Great Commission is at stake. However, we as servants of God must consider an important question before taking a position on this issue. Can the ends justify the means? The answer is no. Faithfulness to Scripture must take precedence over “results.” For example, we should not sweeten or water down the gospel---as is done so often today---in an attempt to bring more souls into the kingdom of God. The desire for “numbers” or "results" should never tempt us to compromise the gospel.

Moreover, there can be danger for us when we engage in offensive action which we have not been specifically authorized to perform. There is risk involved when we take action presumptuously, especially in the realm of the supernatural.

Numbers 14:44 Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD’s covenant moved from the camp. 45 Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.

Another compelling reason not to do spiritual warfare

But there is now another and at least equally compelling reason why we should not engage in spiritual warfare in conjunction with preaching the gospel. By simply obeying the clear and unambiguous commands Jesus gave his disciples when he sent them out, we are now seeing unprecedented results in North India without the practice of direct "spiritual warfare" in the heavenlies.

Luke 9:1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. …6 So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.

Luke 10:9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’

Matthew 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in a the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

In 2007 The Elijah Challenge conducted the Basic Training in North India. Servants of God were taught how to heal the sick and cast out demons as Jesus taught and commanded his disciples when he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God. After that Joshua Gowda and Simon Haqq began to conduct monthly Evangelistic Feeding Events in which the gospel was preached, the sick were healed, demons were cast out of people, and the people were fed.

In such a way, 42 churches have been planted and 11,098 people (predominantly Hindus) have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ in mostly unreached villages. This took place between July 2007 and June 2010 when this article was written. Other churches networked with The Elijah Challenge have planted another 118 house churches in various parts of North India. By God’s grace there is a great move of the Holy Spirit throughout North India. Feeding Events and Elijah Challenge-trained churches are now being used by God in the area of evangelism and church-planting. “Spiritual warfare” is not a part of this.

Moreover, churches trained by The Elijah Challenge are now the fastest growing churches in North India. This is based on progress reports and testimonies Joshua has received from full-time pastors, workers, and churches networked with The Elijah Challenge. In the days to come, Joshua and Simon desire to bring millions of souls into the Kingdom of God through the approach the Lord has entrusted to them.

The difference between the two approaches

There is very significant difference between the current approach of spiritual warfare against territorial spirits followed by or in conjunction with preaching the gospel, and what is being done by Joshua and Simon in North India.

The current approach involves first spiritual warfare in an attempt to dislodge territorial spirits. After that the sick are prayed for---not necessarily healed as Jesus taught and commanded his disciples. And the gospel is preached. Now there are two unscriptural components in this approach. The first is of course the spiritual warfare. The second, surprisingly, is praying for the sick. Jesus never commanded his disciples to pray for the sick when he sent them out. Rather he commanded them to heal the sick---which is very different and involves actually performing miraculous healings in real time to confirm the truth of the gospel to the listeners.

The scriptural approach which Joshua and Simon are now using involves preaching the gospel, actually healing the sick as Jesus commanded his disciples in Luke 10:9 to confirm the message to the lost, and then feeding the people. The meal is used to draw the people to the event and for fellowship with the new believers afterwards.

Both approaches, it is claimed, result in people turning to Jesus Christ. But one involves some unscriptural practices while the other closely follows the commands given by Jesus to his disciples.

Choose one

Which approach is preferable? Most obviously, the approach which follows scripture closely is to be preferred. It results in the advance of the kingdom of heaven on earth, and there is no risk of counterattack by vengeful rulers and authorities in the heavenlies which we may have angered in our presumption when waging “spiritual warfare.” God is not obligated to protect us from their attacks in such a case.

Luke 10:19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.

This verse applies when we trample on earthbound “snakes and scorpions” which likely refer to spirits and demons attacking people on earth at ground level. It does not apply when we attempt to trample on powerful beings in the second heavens which we have not been commanded or authorized to do.

Let us now return to the word of God to understand how to fulfill the Great Commission. Let us be faithful to obey Scripture. Let us remember the rallying cry of the Protestant Reformation: Sola scriptura. This Latin phrase means that Scripture alone is authoritative for the faith and practice of the believer. The Bible is complete, authoritative, and true. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

The “spiritual warfare” approach to evangelism adds a foreign dimension which is not taught in Scripture. It is not necessary, and could in fact be presumptuous and lead to unnecessary risks and suffering for ourselves and our loved ones.

We have ministered in some of the spiritually darkest places on the face of the earth. In Africa, we boldly challenge witchdoctors to a contest of power in the fashion of Elijah with the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel. And we consistently witness miracles and victory after victory over the enemy without having to resort to the practice of "spiritual warfare." And we are blessed with a side-benefit: we do not suffer from trials due to enemy retaliation and counterattack. We are convinced that we are shielded from them because we have not gone "beyond what is written" but simply done what the word of God says we should do. We are thankful also to our intercessors who blanket us with prayers to the Lord on our behalf.

Friday, September 7, 2012

This is a testimony of how God allowed RC, a young missionary to become sick so as to put her in a hospital ward next to a dying woman. By His grace, mercy and miracle, the woman and her Turkish family gave their lives to Christ. Read this amazing testimony:

Over the last six years of doing full-time missionary work, I have seen Jesus do amazing miracles to provide, guide, and protect me.

A friend asked me recently what my biggest leap of faith had been to date. It was hard to pick a certain moment, as I’ve come to see that every time Jesus presents a challenge and through faith I overcome, He “upgrades” me; the next challenge is a little harder and more faith is required. In that way my faith is always growing.

But there was one time that I can say was a definite turning point in my life of faith. I was 18 years old and on my way to Ethiopia with another missionary friend. Neither of us had been there before, I had never been to Africa period. So I felt rather uncertain. We landed in Frankfurt, Germany, and on arrival at the train station, we started talking to two people who turned out to be from Ethiopia. They introduced us to their church and the locals there. We didn’t have any finances for the tickets, and the deadline for the flight was getting closer as the days passed.

For a couple of days prior I had been experiencing odd twinges in the right side of my stomach. The twinges quickly turned into sharp, stabbing pain, but up till that point I had never been really sick before and so I ignored it. The morning before our departure, I woke up with a start. Nothing had awaken me, but something wasn’t right. I got out of bed and suddenly blacked out.

When I woke up a few minutes later, the pain was unimaginable. My friend had woken up when she heard me falling on the floor. She rushed me to the hospital. After hours of medical examinations, the doctors discovered that I had ovarian cysts and that two large ones had ruptured, causing internal bleeding.

The doctors explained that I needed to have surgery immediately. Then he asked for my insurance details. Being a young and new missionary, I had never thought about medical insurance. The doctor was upset as the surgery would cost me 15,000 euros and he wondered how I was to pay it.

He said, “What are you going to do?”

When I started to hesitantly say that I believed God could do a miracle, he just laughed. I was afraid, and in the back of my mind was this voice saying, “This is a punishment for the things you’ve done wrong. If you really had faith, this wouldn’t have happened.” They wouldn’t let my friend in, so I lay there asking myself, “What will I do? What will I do?”

An angel, in the form of a nurse, came in just then and said, “Don’t think about the money. You belong to God. If you can’t have faith in anything else, trust in His love.”

I decided to go ahead with the surgery. Later I learned that my friends who were doing mission projects throughout Europe and Africa were having hourly prayer vigil. They were also considering how they could help me pay for the operation.

The days after the operation were tough. The rules of the hospital did not allow my friend to visit much. However what really frustrated me was that I should have been in Ethiopia by then.

Just a few months before all these events, I had dedicated my life to serving Jesus. Now this happened! Laying there in the hospital, my mind was in turmoil.

"How am I going to pay for the surgery? Is this a punishment from God? Why did it happen?"

During this time another lady patient was put in my room. I could hear her talking to her daughter, saying, “I don’t want to die. I don’t want to face God’s punishments. What will happen to my family ... and why is God allowing this?” This lady was speaking in Turkish, and while I was by no means fluent in Turkish, yet I understood what she was saying.

I started to speak to her through her daughter, who spoke English. I told them about God’s love and how perfect it is. How God allows suffering so that we can better understand His love and grow closer to Him. As I shared with her, I started to find the answers to the very same fears and doubts that I had been struggling with.

The frightened lady was dying of cancer of the intestines. The doctors would operate on her but apparently with her serious condition, there was only a 30% chance of success.

The day before I was released from the hospital, she called me over and said, “In the Koran, Jesus is called the Healer. I have heard you pray to Him. Please pray now for my life.” Her whole family was standing there with such expectant faith. I don’t remember the prayer or what I said, but I was so desperate for Jesus to do something to honor their faith.

The next day I was released from the hospital but was told to rest in bed for two weeks. The only problem was that I had nowhere to go. I was issued a paper asking me to pay the bill within a month’s period. I did not know what to do. As I walked aimlessly, I found a seat near the entrance of the hospital and started to pray.

About two hours later I heard someone calling my name. IIt was the daughter of the Turkish lady woman, who had since been operated.

“It’s a miracle! The miracle from God,” the daughter was saying over and over again. She explained that just before the surgery, the doctors decided to do one more scan. in the previous scan, the cancer had wrapped itself all around her intestines. But this new scan showed something completely different. All of the cancer was gone, except for a small bit right at the top of the organ. The operation took very little time and she was fine. The doctors said they had never seen anything like that before—it was a miracle.

After hearing my plight, the lady and her daughter invited me stayed with their family. For two weeks, each of them took turns to ask me questions about God’s love and Jesus’ power to heal. During that time the father, mother, and daughter asked Jesus to come into their hearts. Jesus changed their lives.

The hospital bill still needed to be paid. And I needed a miracle. With fear and trembling, I went to the hospital on the appointed date. However, with the first miracle, my faith was strengthened. I gave the receptionist my name and waited to be called to face the music. Finally I was ushered into an office by a lady. She looked at me with a confused look and then looked back at the file. Finally she asked me for my date of birth and birthplace. I told her, and she shook her head. For forty long minutes she rattled on her keyboard, made calls, and got angrier and absolutely frustrated.

Finally she threw the file down and said, “Bah! There is no real record of your having even been here.”

I must have looked as confused as I felt, as she continued, “There was a woman here with the same name as you, but according to our files she was 76 years old, had inflammation of the joints, and was covered by our medical insurance policy. We cannot charge you if there is no record of you even existing. You can go!”

I stumbled out of that office hardly believing that Jesus had a wonderful sense of humor. He had taken my medical file and replaced it with that of a 76-year-old lady. When I went back to the house of my new found friends and told them what had happened, the mother called the hospital to make sure. It was as the secretary had said: they couldn’t find a single trace of paperwork that I had ever been in the hospital.

Apparently, the hospital administrator said, “And to us Germans, if it’s not on paper, then it hasn’t happened.”

Before that miracle, I had always thought that miracles came to those that were more spiritual, to someone who was very close to Jesus. During that time I didn’t feel very full of faith at all. In fact, I was at my lowest point—just struggling to trust that Jesus loved me.

Remembering this experience helps me so much when I’m facing impossible situations and feel like I don’t have what it takes to receive a miracle. Since then the miracles I’ve experienced have always happened when I stopped trying to use my “common sense” and learn to depend upon Jesus alone. Today, I tell Jesus that I need Him and whenever He gives me instruction, I do not question but just do it.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

(Sister Grace Kang writes to a sister-in-Christ about how to cast out demons. Here is her email.)Demons are unclean spirits, cast down together with Lucifer. It is stated clearly in the bible that demons know that God is the Lord above all (James 2:19) and Jesus has authority over all (Mark 5:7; Mark 1:24; Matt 8:29; Luke 4:34).Therefore, the demons, by nature, hate us human beings who are created in God's image. We are created to take over the place of angels to worship God. That is the why the unseen spiritual battle is constantly happening.However, our Lord Jesus Christ calls us as His children and His body. And, He has given us His power and authority. Although we may not have supernatural power like the angels, our words can either build up or kill a person. "The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences." (Prov 18:21)Coming back to the topic of casting out demons, we have power and authority over demons and diseases. Jesus says "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; NOTHING WILL HARM YOU" (Luke 10:19).This is also reaffirmed in 1 John 4:4: "But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world."We can cast out demons just like how Jesus does in the bible. He openly rebukes the demons and commands them to leave. He moves in authority. In Mark 1:27: The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.”He casts demons out by merely commanding:“Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” (Mark 1:25);For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!” (Mark 5:8); "When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the impure spirit. “You deaf and mute spirit,” he said, “I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.”" (Mark 9:25); “Be quiet!” Jesus said sternly. “Come out of him!” (Luke 4:35)So, when we cast out demons we do likewise. Apostle Paul simply commands: "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. (Acts 16:18).The 70 or 72 believers (read: not apostles ;>) cast out demons and heal the sick by simply commanding in faith. It is reported in Luke 10:17: The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”Our Lord Jesus Christ says: "And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; (Mark 16:17).And once again, He says: "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; NOTHING WILL HARM YOU" (Luke 10:19).They do not ask the demons to listen to them. They just command. They do not ask the angels to minister. They just take authority in the name of Jesus Christ. But, do take note, this is strictly for casting out demons.I hope this 'mini article' helps you (I didn't expect to write this long...). May the Lord give you discernment and wisdom as you minister to your loved ones.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Tony Campolo tells a story about being in a church in Oregon where he was asked to pray for a man who had cancer. Campolo prayed boldly for the man's healing. That next week he got a telephone call from the man's wife. She said, "You prayed for my husband. He had cancer." Campolo thought when he heard her use the past tense verb that his cancer had been eradicated! But before he could think much about it she said, "He died." Compolo felt terrible. But she continued, "Don't feel bad. When he came into that church that Sunday he was filled with anger. He knew he was going to be dead in a short period of time, and he hated God He was 58 years old, and he wanted to see his children and grandchildren grow up. He was angry that this all-powerful God didn't take away his sickness and heal him. He would lie in bed and curse God. The more his anger grew towards God, the more miserable he was to everybody around him. It was an awful thing to be in his presence." But the lady told Compolo, "After you prayed for him, a peace had come over him and a joy had come into him. Tony, the last three days have been the best days of our lives. We've sung. We've laughed. We've read Scripture. We prayed. Oh, they've been wonderful days. And I called to thank you for laying your hands on him and praying for healing." And then she said something incredibly profound. She said, "He wasn't cured, but he was healed." Fact is, God can heal not just physically but also emotionally, spiritually, and financially. If you are... ...Sick and tired of your financial situation. ...Hurting because of bad relationships. ...Feeling hopeless with your health problems. ...Stagnant in your faith in God. Take the time now to read and memorize scriptures. You'll be surprised how it will heal you completely. Don & Dawn

Monday, July 16, 2012

Last night we held an evangelistic healing service at Bible Christian Community. To help you better understand the significance of what happened, we want to share with you what happened here three weeks ago.

According
to our host Pastor Horacio, a well-known Brazilian evangelist had held
an evangelistic healing Crusade for the area churches. But it was a huge
disappointment. The preacher spoke mostly about himself. He also
promised that people would be miraculously healed, but no one was
healed. When it came time to receive the offering, he would not allow
anyone else to touch it---the entire offering belonged to him and to him
alone.

This
was especially disappointing to one of the host pastors of the
event---Pastor Horacio himself---whose ministry due to circumstances
completely beyond his control had suffered from a recent financial
setback and left the ministry about $3,000 in debt.

After
such an experience the people came last night with some reservations,
not quite knowing to expect at another evangelistic healing service. But
the Lord was gracious and did not disappoint them. He enabled us to
preach the gospel with power. After the preaching the many trained
disciples fanned out against all four walls of the sanctuary ready to
heal the sick to demonstrate that Jesus Christ had authority to forgive
sin and save from condemnation in hell through His atoning death on the
cross.

The
Lord used them powerfully as they ministered with great perseverance as
they had been trained to do. There were perhaps twenty testimonies, and
some of them involved powerful healings that we do not often see. One
young man climbed up to the stage to testify that since the age of
twelve he suffered from a debilitating disorder which for all practical
purposes had paralyzed him. He could not ascend or descend stairs
unassisted. But in front of the crowd he was able to climb up to the
stage and down again by himself. (See his photo below.) Ladies who had
been delivered from incurable conditions like the woman with the
bleeding in Mark 5 testified through tears that Jesus had healed them.
It was an unusually powerful evening for us who have held many such
meetings.

Afterwards Pastor Horacio invited people to accept Christ as Lord and Savior, and sinners responded.

The offering

At the end
of the service an offering was taken. Recall the people's disappointment
with the evangelist who had ministered there three weeks earlier and
had insisted on taking the entire offering for himself. How would the
people give this time?

Let us put it into context for you. The typical offering for an entire month received
by Bible Christian Community totals about US$2,000. Last night in a
single service God's people gave US$3,000---the largest offering they
had ever received in their history! And this was the amount their
ministry needed to cover their debt! (We are delighted that this
offering went entirely to the church.)

Praise
the Lord for His wonderful grace. We rejoice that we can be a blessing
in this way. Thank you for interceding for us, dear brethren ~

Tomorrow
on Sunday evening, USA teammate Kurt Simms will minister at the Bible
Christian Community, while we will minister at Hope is Jesus Church
located elsewhere in Sao Paulo.

Pastor Horacio's elderly mother who had been healed of heart disease on the first evening

On
Tuesday evening at the first Training session, one of the several
people who came forward for healing of heart disease was Senior Pastor
Horacio's elderly mother. Every evening for years she had suffered from
uncomfortably cold feet and hands because of poor blood circulation. But
after that Tuesday evening she discovered that every evening her feet
and hands felt fine!

Monday, July 2, 2012

We
would like to share with you what happened at the Friday morning
session of The Elijah Challenge Training last week. There was a brother
named Jim Edwards who had come, but acknowledged to us before the
session that he had difficulty believing that the Lord could use him to
heal the sick.

A
gentleman named Dick Gethin had come to the session that morning at the
invitation
of the above-mentioned Brother Jim who is a friend from work. Dick had
had four stents placed
in his arteries to treat breathing problems and pain above his heart.
During
the demonstration of healing at the first session, Dick came forward for
healing. We called a surprised Jim to come forward to minister to him.
Barry Chabu of Georgia also came forward to minister. As Jim and Barry
laid hands over Dick's heart, Lucille led them
in exercising their authority in the name of Jesus Christ.

After
the first time of
ministry, Dick reported still feeling pain in his heart. They
ministered a second time to him. After the second time there was no more
pain. We asked him to run around the sanctuary. He did so. Returning to
us at the front, he testified that his heart felt fine. Normally Dick
would
have felt definite averse consequences.

Yesterday (June 29) Dick went to see
his Houston cardiologist Dr. Leachman for tests. Today Dr. Leachman called him to
inform him that all the tests showed that his heart was completely normal. HALLELUJAH!

An
emboldened Jim Edwards is now ready to launch out to minister healing
in Jesus' name to people at crowded public events in Houston, and has
invited Brother Kurt Simms to join him! (Do pray for Jim and Kurt as
they reach out to the lost.)

Praise the Lord for His wonderful grace. Thank you for interceding for us, dear ones ~

Thursday, May 31, 2012

With
the Lord's gracious help, the first session of The Elijah Challenge
Training here was very fruitful. The Lord graciously enabled us to teach
the approximately 180 servants of God and disciples very effectively.
Perhaps never before had we heard such uplifting comments from pastors
and servants of God about the teaching afterwards.

At the beginning of the demonstration
of healing, a man and a woman with heart conditions (one with blocked
arteries) came forward to be healed through the disciples. As hands were
laid on them and their heart disease rebuked in Jesus' name, something
was lifted from them and they felt very light. Both ran to the back of
the sanctuary and back to the front, and felt absolutely fine. With
their heart conditions, they would absolutely not have been able to do
this earlier.

After
that people with knee problems came forward to be healed by the
disciples. Some of them had had chronic knee pain and disability dating
back many years---one had had the pain for twenty years. As far as I
could see, all of them testified that the Lord had healed them after the
disciples ministered to them. The brethren were amazed, grateful to the
Lord, and greatly encouraged. Some will be bringing more infirm people
to Session Two tomorrow morning.

Thank you for praying and interceding for us, dear ones! The Lord is so good.

In
the afternoon after lunch I believe that some of the disciples went door
to door healing the sick and proclaiming the kingdom of God to the lost
in the homes. I will ask for their reports tomorrow.

Please
continue to pray for this event. May the spirit and power of Elijah
come upon these disciples in double portion, resulting in significant
impact upon the Great Commission in this nation.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Last
night we arrived in this island nation which consists primarily of the
two islands of Trinidad and Tobago. (Please see the map way down below.)
We were met by our hosts Dave and Rohan. Dave is a Trinidadian of
Indian descent who some time ago received The Elijah Challenge Training
materials from a disciple in Kansas named Pete Cabrera. Dave studied and
digested the material and began to apply it. Last night he shared with
us that whereas before only 1 out of 10 people were healed when he
ministered to them, after studying the materials 10 out of 10 infirm
people he ministered to were healed by the Lord.

Dave
then handed the materials to Brother Rohan, who has the ministry of a
prophet. Likewise, Rohan also began to heal the sick effectively after
going through the training materials---often with amazing results. Rohan
is a high school mathematics teacher, and Trinidadian law and culture
give him the freedom to preach the gospel and heal the sick in his
classroom. Students are now healed regularly in his classes, and he
estimates over the years he has led 15,000 students to Jesus Christ.

Seeing
the effectiveness of the Training, Dave and Rohan have invited
full-time pastors and servants of God from all over Trinidad to attend
the free event this week. They estimate about 200 or more will be
joining us. By faith they will be providing meals for their guests over
the four days of Training. Hearing what Dave and Rohan shared last
night, we sense that the Lord wants to do something special here. He is
pleased by the freedom accorded by the government to preach the gospel
in the public schools---something forbidden in the USA. Trinidadian
believers, moreover, generally fear the Lord (unlike Christians in quite
a few other countries we have visited) and understand the importance of
living holy lives in obedience to Him. Even the name "Trinidad" refers
to the Holy Trinity in Spanish. We believe the Lord has something
powerful in store for this week.

Please
pray that the Elijah Challenge Training this week will have great
impact on the gospel in Trinidad. May He enable us to be extremely
effective in training His servants to heal the sick and cast out demons
as confirmation of the gospel. May powerful miraculous healings take
place during the morning Training sessions and in the afternoons when
the trained disciples go door to door to heal the sick and proclaim the
kingdom of God.

Our
schedule has us conducting the Training Wednesday morning through
Saturday morning from 9 AM to 1 PM. In the afternoons the trained
servants of God will go from door to door to apply what they have been
taught from the Scriptures.

Monday, April 30, 2012

Many
thousands years ago, the islanders of Lepsog islands were champion squid
hunters. They harpooned these humongous sea creatures that roamed their oceans
and brought prosperity to their islands. Every young man who reached 18 years
of age was required to join the older men in the great sea hunt.

There were
many accounts of exceptional courageous and successful hunts recorded in the
ancient book known as the 'Chronicle of Sea Warriors'. Recorded in one of its
illustrious chapters was a story of a Master Squid Hunter known as Nomis who
with his long-time navigator, Nhoj hauled in these super seafood that fed the
islanders for years.

In another
account, Luap, a famous village singer, singlehandedly speared his game with
his very own handmade harpoon. There were of course stories of cowards and
quitters. There was a report about Kram, a young apprentice, who jumped out of
Luap's boat and swam to shore even before any squids appeared. However, the
legend did record that Kram overcame his fear and became a Master Hunter
himself. Another islander, Samed, who served as an assistant to Luap but he
quit after being bitten on his little finger by a small cuttlefish. He left the
island for good because he was attracted by the lights of the mainland. No one
knew whether he and his canoe ever reached the land of his dream.

The Master
Hunters left behind manuscripts on how to make the right types of harpoons,
appropriate baits and also techniques in catching these sea monsters. They
wrote good advice on how to avoid the tentacles and if attacked, what the sea
hunters should do to free themselves. For thousands of years, the manuscripts
were compiled and became a treasured manual. This was a book of success as far
as the hunters were concerned. Many copies were reproduced by hands and even
translated into different languages and dialects.

After the
first generation of hunters passed away, new hunters rose to fill their places.
With the manual and the direct instructions from veteran hunters guiding them,
they were just as effective as the old-timers. Many of these younger hunters
pursued larger species in far deeper oceans than their predecessors had even
been. Years passed, as more and more people from other islands sailed to the
Lepsog island to learn how to hunt the sea giants, the people of these other
islands were enjoying a very good healthy diet of quality seafood.

Fast forward
to today. The Islands of Lepsog are filled with hunting schools and colleges.
The students of the original schools set up similar institutions on other
islands outside of Lepsog too. Squid hunting professors are very impressive.
They are fantastic lecturers. To help the students, they have beautiful
PowerPoint presentations and even some black-and-white film footages on how
those brave hunters of antiquity brought in thousands of these deadly animals.

The
libraries of these institutions are filled with countless volumes that tell and
retell these old stories. Many graduates of these institutions have gone on to
become the grandmasters of the Hunting League. They in turn write many books
about how those ancient mariners caught their amazing giants.

There is
just a slight hitch - none of these grandmasters has ever caught a giant squid
before. Don't get me wrong - they are believers of the previous existence of
these gigantic creatures. However, they do not believe that there are any more
giant squids in the oceans. How did they know that? They had gone to the oceans
to hunt for them but without much result. They have the most modern boats and
ships. They have the latest hunting equipments. They have lots of money to buy
anything they need for deep-sea hunting. The only problem is that they have not
encountered any living giants in the deep oceans.

To pacify
their disappointments and justify their lack of success, they assume that the
giant squids have become extinct. Most likely, these creatures existed in the
past for the purpose of testing the courage of their ancestors. More books are
produced year after year about the extinction of the deadly animals in spite of
many sightings reported by other hunters outside their immediate circle. These
reports are from unprofessional hunters and therefore cannot be accepted. The
photographs shown are most probably doctored with Photoshop or similar types of
software. Life goes on even without any sightings of these elusive monsters.

The social
activities of the Hunting Clubs in all the Lepsog islands are alive. They
organize weekly events to celebrate the past existence of the giant squids.
They also celebrate the bravery of their ancestors who risked their lives to
harpoon these amazing creatures. Some islanders convert their clubs into
museums and draw large crowds of tourists.

Then some
younger members of the esteemed Hunting Club, claim that they have sighted a
few giant squids during some of their hunting trips. Once again, the
grandmaster and his committee quickly dismiss these as unsubstantiated reports
and thus should be considered as mere rumours. Even though, they are shown a decomposing
carcass, they conclude that "it looks like a giant squid, smells like a
giant squid and feels like a giant squid but it is not a giant squid".

Those young
hunters are given warnings not to spread the rumours or face severe punishment
such as being expelled from the club. Without any further interruption from
these ignorant youths, the Clubs continue to flourish with exciting activities.
They have scholars who write articles and books. Then they exchange notes and
book reviews. All the clubs are filled with published materials and they
prosper and develop franchises all over the world. The Hunting clubs are now
more like reading clubs. People spend more time reading about the great
exploits than actually experiencing the exploits themselves.

This is what
happens to our churches today. Many churches have not experienced signs and
wonders for such a long time that our preachers only preach about miracles of
yester-years. One of the popular sermons is about how Peter and John healed the
lame beggar at the gate known as 'Beautiful' (Acts 3). We love to repeat what
Peter said to the lame man, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do
have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and
walk."

What an
irony! Today, we have much silver and gold but in the name of Jesus, no lame
person can rise up and walk. How many scholars and professors in our
theological seminaries have ever healed the sick in the name of Jesus? How many
have ever cast out demons? Our seminaries become "reading clubs"
rather than "hunting clubs". We spend hours talking about the devil
and his demons but we have no power to cast them out. Theological understanding
is only good when it can become practical in ministry.

Let's get
the grandmasters back into the oceans and let's really catch some giant squids.

Monday, April 23, 2012

At the Healing Service last night in the Marriott Hotel in the middle of amazing Times Square, the Lord moved with power as He did at Mt. Carmel during the time of Elijah to demonstrate to the people that He is the true God---and not the god behind witchcraft.

There was no evidence of the power of witchcraft at the meeting to disrupt or to do anything else; but the power of God to heal the infirm was evident.

As the disciples trained on Friday and Saturday ministered to them, several infirm people were healed and testified.

Among the testimonies was one from a woman whose vision was blurry because of glaucoma. She was able to see clearly after disciples ministered to her.

Unclean spirits were cast out of a man suffering from a bipolar condition. There were other testimonies as well.

Thank you for interceding for us, dear ones!

Earlier today at Glory Tabernacle in Queens we dedicated The New York Elijah Challenge Training Center. Brother Joseph White and Pastor Mel Melato will be directing the Center.

Disciples had come from New Jersey, Virginia, South Carolina, and Minnesota as well as from New York for the Friday and Saturday Training.

The response from the participating disciples was extremely enthusiastic and encouraging. Several of them had been healed from various infirmities during the Training sessions.

Among other miraculous healings, cysts on a woman's thyroid had disappeared. Another woman's weak heart beat---she could not even feel her pulse---became strong.

A pastor's poor eyesight was restored. It appears that doors for us to conduct the Basic Training in South Carolina and Virginia may open up as a result.

Tomorrow we will fly back to Houston. Praise the Lord for His wonderful grace!

WELCOME TO ELIJAH CHALLENGE ASIA

The Elijah Challenge End-Time Model of Evangelism

Today the Lord is restoring to the Church a Scriptural Model of Evangelism which will enable churches and believers to fulfill the Great Commission.

In this model, based on John 14:12, "ordinary" disciples of Christ will preach the gospel and minister miraculous healing in low-budget, low-profile, relatively small (or even one-on-one) meetings. When the listeners see the miracles and hear the gospel, their hearts will be open to accepting Christ.

The new believers will be followed up by the believing friend, family member, neighbor, or business associate who brought them to the meeting. Such personal follow-up of new believers will be more effective than the impersonal follow up after large mass crusades. There is a greater likelihood that the new believer will join the church and be discipled for Jesus Christ.

This kind of evangelism involving miraculous healings and the demonstration of the Spirit's power is through ordinary disciples and therefore not dependent on the presence of a specially gifted and anointed minister. As such, evangelism of this kind can be an ongoing and continuous feature of the life of every local church.

This model of evangelism is not based on the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit but rather on principles gleaned from the ministry of Jesus Himself. Thus both Conservative Evangelicals as well as Charismatic Pentecostal believers are able to preach the gospel in this way and even work together in the spirit of unity.

When every church is equipped with the End-Time Model of Evangelism, the Body of Christ will be significantly closer to the fulfillment of the Great Commission.